Our trip to Victoria was great. We met another couple on the bus that picked us up(two busses picked up from different areas, but one bus for the trip). We hung with them all day. We rode the ferry for about and hour and 30 minutes. The first stop were the gardens. The Butchart Gardens were beautiful and there were many serene places throughout the gardens. We then went into Victoria. The bus stopped by the marina which across the street of the Fairmount Hotel. The four of us wanted a late lunch/early dinner and some drinks. We sat at an outside restaurant overlooking the boats with the mountains in the background. We only had a short time left before getting back on the bus, so we did some shopping(fudge for them and hard maple candy for me). Once on the bus, the driver took a different route than usual. There is a huge car show this weekend in downtown Victoria-mostly hot rods, and the focus is on cars from 1932. He took us past the host hotels to see what was parked(we saw cars on the ferry, and everywhere we went). We drove along the seawall which was lovely and then back to the ferry and eventually our hotel.

We are headed over to the cruise ship terminal shortly and are excited about the trip.

Our trip to Victoria was great. We met another couple on the bus that picked us up(two busses picked up from different areas, but one bus for the trip). We hung with them all day. We rode the ferry for about and hour and 30 minutes. The first stop were the gardens. The Butchart Gardens were beautiful and there were many serene places throughout the gardens. We then went into Victoria. The bus stopped by the marina which across the street of the Fairmount Hotel. The four of us wanted a late lunch/early dinner and some drinks. We sat at an outside restaurant overlooking the boats with the mountains in the background. We only had a short time left before getting back on the bus, so we did some shopping(fudge for them and hard maple candy for me). Once on the bus, the driver took a different route than usual. There is a huge car show this weekend in downtown Victoria-mostly hot rods, and the focus is on cars from 1932. He took us past the host hotels to see what was parked(we saw cars on the ferry, and everywhere we went). We drove along the seawall which was lovely and then back to the ferry and eventually our hotel.

We are headed over to the cruise ship terminal shortly and are excited about the trip.

Saturday
We left the hotel around 10 am and it was about a 30 minute drive to the port. They really have a great system there. They unload your luggage right from the taxi and you don’t see it again until it shows up hours later in your room. There was a lot of walking but you really did not stand in line very long for check-in, customs and immigration. By a little after 11:15 we were seated waiting for the last of the previous passengers to leave the ship. We only sat there for about 10 minutes and they began boarding passengers by seated rows. We were on the ship by 11:30ish and our cabin was almost ready-they just had to vacuum it. We waited while that was done, dropped on carry-ons and headed to lunch at the buffet. We spent the next while going floor to floor trying to learn were everything is located. This ship is much larger than any one we had been on. We signed up for prime seating for the glacier watching (recommendation by a friend) and headed for the safety drill. Luckily, no life vests or standing at a station-just sitting in a theater and going through the presentation. We went back to our cabin to await our luggage and unpack. We have anytime dining and headed down to dinner around 6:30 and were seated with two other parties and had a nice time. We walked around looking in the shops after dinner still trying to get our bearings. We stopped into the casino because I wanted to try using their new Medallion system. The Medallion has all your info loaded on to it(ours is on lanyards, but you could purchase other things like clips, sports bands, etc. to put the Medallion in). It opens your cabin door as you approach, it gets you on and off the ship, and you can charge to your room with including at the casino machines. I put $20 on the slot machine. I thought I was on a penny, but I then realized I was on a dollar machine. It worked out because I walked away with $82.00. We stopped for a drink before heading to bed.

Sunday
Today was a sea day. After breakfast in one of the restaurants, we checked out the rest of the ship since we did not get done on Saturday. I headed to the spa for my deep tissue massage and Stu headed to the gym. We met back in the cabin and headed to lunch. We decided to go to the art auction just to look. Yeah, well, looking was nice but just looking didn’t last long. We bought one “mystery” piece-they put up several pieces with the backs facing you all by the same artist. They tell you the price and you say if you are interested. Once you see them, you are not committed to buy, but we did like one of them and it was not expensive and made the appointment that night to do the paperwork. There were two others we really liked, but did not bid on them because they were expensive. When we went to the appointment after dinner, we negotiated a price for the two we liked-much less than they were at the auction. The two pieces are “kinetic art” which means they seem to move as you move-they change from different angles. It’s something you have to see. After that we headed to a bar on the port side(our room is starboard) to see the sunset-10pm. After that we headed to bed because we need to be on the dock by 6:45 am(time zones changed during the night).

Monday
I woke up around 4 am needing to go to the bathroom and realized the sun was starting to come up. The sky was full of color, so we decided to get up and take some pictures(the alarm was set for 5). It was so beautiful with the mountains and water! I headed into the shower before 5 and we headed to breakfast around 5:30-5:45(just way too early). It was fairly quiet still at the buffet. We then headed back to our room and get ready for our trip to Misty Fjords. Our original excursion included a seaplane ride in addition to the boat, but that was canceled because of the recent crashes (we are really okay with that). Once we got off the ship, over the ramps and onto Alaskan soil we had someone take our pictures by the Ketchikan sign. We had made it to our 50th state! One item to cross off the bucket list! Shortly after we board the boat out to the fjords. It was beautiful. We saw some bald eagles and the scenery was amazing in the fjords(we both fell asleep on the way there). The narration was detailed and the crew great! The boat was not filled which made moving around easy. We returned around 11:30 and headed into town for lunch and some shopping. Ketchikan is a lovely little town with the typical tourist shops, jewelry stores and native art. We were back on the ship by 2:20 as 2:45 was supposed to be the latest, but it wasn’t until 3:00 that the last people got on board. Now we are just chilling in the room with the balcony door open listening to the water and occasional seaplane. We are near the front of the ship, away from the elevators. We have an early dinner at one of the speciality restaurants. We would not have booked it if we had not gotten it for free when I booked (we also got free premier drink package which is usually $60.00 per day per person, and all gratuities included).